James Henry Rion

Until now the life of James H. Rion (1828-1886) has been known only in fragments. Many in South Carolina know of him only through the legend, told in countless variations throughout the 20th century, that he was the son of a Montréal dauphin and thus the grandson of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette; others recognize him as one who spent much of his youth with the Calhoun family at Fort Hill and who later became Thomas G. Clemson's lawyer; while still others are acquainted with him primarily as a c